Delhi’s Tihar jail is like a city but it does not work in a vaccum, Sanjay Beniwal, the jail’s Director General, said today in the backdrop of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s allegation that he is not being administered insulin. His party has alleged a conspiracy to murder him. Speaking to NDTV in an exclusive interview, Mr Beniwal said Tihar has around 1,000 diabetics and they are given food and medication according to the advice of senior doctors, including those from AIIMS and Ram Manohar Lohia hospital.

“We usually face such pressure, we have a habit of tolerating it, it is part of life,” he told NDTV. 

Mr Kejriwal has gone to court alleging that he is being deprived of insulin since his arrest on March 21 in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case. His request for a video call with a private practitioner has been denied by the special court in Delhi that is hearing the case. 

His Aam Aadmi Party, meanwhile, has held protests outside the Tihar jail.

Calling the allegations “baseless”, Mr Beniwal said they will follow the instructions of the court.

“Whatever allegations AAP is making, we have answered them very well in court,” Mr Beniwal said. “Whatever questions the court has asked us, we have also answered them very well. We all accept what the court says. Why are they making all these allegations? Only he should answer,” he said.  

“Do you think slow poison can be given in jail? Do you yourself think this is possible?” Mr Beniwal added.

“Around 900 to 1000 prisoners in our jail are suffering from diabetes. Some are given medicines, some insulin, some need something else… our government-appointed senior doctors do all this,” he said.

Explaining the existing practice under the jail manual, he said when someone’s illness is serious, “we take the advice from the referral hospital, which is outside the jail”.

“Our referral hospitals include AIIMS, RML and other hospitals. This is a normal process for all prisoners. There is no A B C D category for any particular prisoner,” he added.

Three notable BJP figures, among them the controversial Kaiserganj MP and former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, Mumbai North Central MP Poonam Mahajan, and Ladakh’s Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, may find themselves sidelined. Sources within the party suggest that Singh’s wife, Ketki Devi Singh, who previously held a parliamentary seat from Gonda for two years (1996-98), could potentially step in as the BJP’s nominee in his place.

In 2023, global military spending surged to a historic high of $2,443 billion, marking the sharpest yearly increase in more than a decade. Despite ranking as the world’s fourth-largest defense spender, behind the US, China, and Russia, India faces challenges in maximizing its military investment. Hindered by substantial salary and pension obligations and a lack of coherent long-term strategies for systematically enhancing military capabilities, India struggles to optimize its defense expenditures.